Bruin Recruiting: Prep News Roundup (12/17)

By Bruin Basketball Report

Prep News Roundup is published every Monday.

Commits

Jrue Holiday scored 40 points and paced his Campbell Hall team to a 66-61 win over Rancho Verde. Holiday scored any time he wanted to score inside the paint with the dribble drive. If he didn't score, he made it to the foul line, where he was a perfect 11 for 11 from the charity stripe. The nation's No. 3 ranked player in the nation makes it look easy when he gets into the paint. His power, burst of speed and athleticism around the rim just made him impossible to stay in front of. Holiday shot 13 of 22 from the floor, grabbed seven rebounds, had four steals, three blocks and two assists in the win. There were times, however, when he was just too careless with the ball and tried to force the issue. Holiday finished with eight turnovers and gave Rancho Verde a chance to climb back into the game in the fourth quarter. Rivals 12/11

UCLA bound guard Malcolm Lee struggled in his first game of the tournament, scoring just 12 points and missed a number of tough shots and free throws. His extra gear and burst to the basket is incredible, though. Rivals 12/11

The Monarchs (3-0) jumped to a 12-1 start with three-point baskets by Collin Chiverton and Chris Weber, and a two-handed putback slam by UCLA recruit Drew Gordon. In all, Gordon had 20 points, 11 rebounds, seven blocks, three assists, three steals and five dunks. Mercury News 12/12

Burlison: The performance of Jrue Holiday (40 points and something approaching double figures in rebounds and steals) to help Campbell Hall knock off Rancho Verde on Monday night in the TOC was the best individual effort I've watched this season. And there isn't a close second. Press-Telegram 12/12

Malcolm Lee just needed his own time to shine. The UCLA bound guard was outstanding in a tough defeat on Wednesday afternoon. The jet-quick 6-foot-4 guard scored 36 of his team's 54 points against St. Mary's out of Phoenix. Lee made it be known early that he would be a force to be reckoned with. He scored all seven of his team's seven first quarter points and 15 of the team's first half 18 points. There were several times when it appeared as if Lee was on an island by himself. He made tremendous passes to teammates at the basket. However, his team struggled with the easy buckets and missed on point blank shots. His speed and long strides to the basket are hard to stop as he makes his way to the basket. Lee scored with a pull-up jumper from three and handled big, physical guards that stepped into him on defense. Rivals 12/13

UCLA-bound forward Jrue Holiday from Campbell Hall of North Hollywood won Round 1 against USC-bound guard Demar DeRozan from Compton High in the Vikings' 84-70 victory. Holiday scored 32 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and pleased the crowd with several acrobatic dunks. "It was just another game for our team," Holiday said of his matchup with DeRozan. "There is no rivalry for the two of us. This is just high school. College is a different level. I never thought of this as a one-on-one game between me and Demar. Our team is just trying to get better, have fun and win state." Holiday was probably one of the few who wasn't thinking thinking about the matchup with DeRozan, but others did. LA Daily News 12/14

Los Osos 65, Diamond Ranch 54: Kendall Williams scored 20 points with seven assists and eight rebounds and Chinedu Amajoyi had 18 points for the Grizzlies (6-4) to beat the Panthers (6-3) in a ninth-place game. The Sun 12/15

Westchester, which has only lost to another L.A. City club (Taft, in the finals of the Comets' tournament on Dec. 8, 67-60), bottled up the Jrue Holiday-led Vikings' offense Saturday night. The UCLA-bound Holiday, spectacular both offensively and defensively in previous nights' victories over Compton and Santa Margarita, never got untracked on the offense end against multiple defenders, most notably Bellfield and junior point guard Dominique O'Connor. Holiday scored 18 points but hit just 6 of 15 shots and committed eight turnovers. Press Telegram 12/16

Recruits

Michael Snaer, one of the top juniors in the field at the TOC, showed why he's so well regarded amongst the locals. The 6-foot-5 guard from Rancho Verde High School scored 13 of his 21 points in the first half against Holiday and Campbell Hall, scoring on a trio of triples from the top of the key. The big guard has great size for his position and a knack for scoring at the rim. The top 75 national recruit would have liked to of had this one back, as his production trailed off in the second half but he never shied away from his match-up against Holiday and proved his worth as an offensive threat. Rivals 12/11

Modesto Christian 64, Tam 48: The difference: Although the Red-tailed Hawks didn't back down from the Crusaders, in the end it was just too much Reeves Nelson, who led Modesto Christian with 29 points. From the coach: "They moved the ball real well and (Nelson) is really overpowering," Tam's Mike Evans said. Marin Independent 12/12

Christ School 69, Shannon Forest 42: Mason Plumlee had a double-double (11 points, 10 rebounds) to key the Greenies on Tuesday. Brother Miles Plumlee led Christ School (8-0) with 16 points, while Lakeem Jackson added 11 points and five assists. Citizen-Times 12/12

"We got beat up," the Golden Valley boys basketball coach said of Wednesday's first-round loss at the Hoover Holiday Invitational. Charunn Jones knocked down four 3-pointers and Greg Smith had 12 points as Fresno Edison cruised to a 66-47 win. Merced Sun-Star 12/13

In the third-place game, Jordan Hamilton scored 33 points to lead Dominguez (3-1) to an 83-72 victory over Bishop Montgomery (5-3). Hamilton, a transfer from Dorsey, scored 101 points in the four tourney games. LA Wave 12/13

Oakmont lost 58-45 to regionally ranked Rocklin and their highly recruited 6-foot-10-inch center Brendan Lane. But Oakmont's post, 6-foot-6, 240-pound Milos Milosevic, had the crowd buzzing after scoring 15 points and blocking eight shots, three of them coming against Lane. Milosevic also provided the night's best highlight, when after receiving a long inbound pass, the foreign exchange student from Montenegro ripped down a vicious left-handed dunk Lane was productive as well, scoring 12 points and blocking seven shots of his own, but he was clearly bothered by Oakmont's big man. Roseville PT 12/14

In fact, the Monarchs have won every game by at least 18 points thanks to David and Travis Wear. The 6-10 junior twins are each playing great with David leading the team in scoring, averaging 20.3 points a game while Travis (18.8) is right behind him. Press Telegram 12/14

Christ School 83, Carolina Day 54: Christ School remained unbeaten this season (9-0) with a runaway win. Mason Plumlee led the Greenies with 13 points and 17 rebounds. Citizen Times 12/15

Milton Jennings, who said he is drawing recruiting interest from Georgetown, UCLA and North Carolina, among others, wowed the crowd with five first-half dunks -- two on alley-oop passes -- but it was Steed who hurt the Bobcats most by slashing into the lane and blowing them away with his quickness. "We could put our fastest guy on him, and by the time he goes from one free-throw line to the other, he's five steps behind and you can forget about it," Finlen said. Island Packet 12/15

DCD 40, BERKLEY 37: It took a second-half rally Tuesday for Detroit Country Day to thwart the upset bid put forth by visiting Berkley. Trailing by a 20-16 count at the break, head coach Kurt Keener's club withstood a stern challenge by the Bears over the final two frames and outscored their opponents 24-17. Junior Dashonte Riley and senior Darnell Brown each bagged 10 points to lead the winning effort. Riley also grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked six shots. Hometown Life 12/16

(photo credit: SI)